Hembysdal

Post-apocalyptic fantasy roleplaying in the Savage World of Hellfrost

by Kenata

The group was fleeing the forest after the attack by the snow goblins. (See last session)
The two carts were rushing towards the open gates of the Tower, when the party noticed an overturned cart with wounded. Yrsa was driving the first cart, Aedelstan the second.
Since the group of Tower apprentices were being chased by goblins, Yrsa was not planning on stopping.
After Aedelstan yelled out to her to stop, she did slow down enough for Cenwine and Durzo to jump out, whilst Aedelstan stopped the cart allowing Aelfwird to help out as well.
The three of them (well two since Aelfwird nearly broke his back) managed to lift the cart so a wounded girl could be taken out (her legs were crushed though).

Durzo carried the wounded girl to the 2nd Cart (Yrsa was long gone), and Aelfwird helped the wounded boy into the cart, then the rest departed hot on the heels by Goblins and their arrows of doom ™
Rushing through the open gates, the party notices that everyone is just dazed and milling about screaming in pain. Aelfwird asks Cenwine to take care of the wounded, Aedelstan orders people to the gate
to close it.

Aelfwird, Aedelstan and a wounded Keldrin try to close the heavy wooden gates whilst Durzo goes out to check out some buildings before returning to help.
The doors look unmovable but by sheer adrenaline (yay) the party manages to push the gates closed.
Safe at last!…. Except there’s nobody to greet them.
Wounded everywhere, people crying it’s a chaos in the courtyard. Aedelstan knows of an infirmary in the Tower, and so the Party carries some wounded towards the Tower, only to see the drawbridge raised
and there’s no answer, nor a way into the tower, so they carry the wounded back down to the Longhouses.
Meanwhile there’s alot of arguing going on between the leaders of Korgshaevn Daegwick (and others) about who should be in charge. The wounded are being carried into the longhouses by the youths of Vestyrsjö.
Durzo is asked to scale the Tower and try to open the drawbridge, whilst the rest of the party makes it way to the argument.

Aedelstan tries to notify them of the fact that there’s something seriously wrong here, and with a Goblin Army outside we should get organized.
Lina forces the issue by declaring that Aedelstan should be leader, Krassa (?) agrees since Aedelstan already had a year of Tower Training done, and finally the rest (reluctantly) agrees.

Durzo meanwhile manages to scamper up the Tower like a squirrel and enters the top window. Making his way down to the draw bridge he finds 2 bodies on the top floor, human and a Blue skinned monster….
Down at the draw bridge, it’s a puzzle mechanism and Durzo tries, and finally manages to let down the draw bridge (with a big thud) drawing a huge roar of anger from the top of the tower….

There’s still a door between Durzo and the rest of the party in the courtyard, Durzo has difficulty opening the heavy door, and decides to turn and face his would be attackers…..

A blue skinned monster is charging at him with a huge cleaver, which Durzo manges to avoid and slices open the monster with one swift stroke of his dagger, slaying him instantly with a look of surprise.
A second monster comes down more wary and approaches Durzo who pushes away the cleaver and slays the second monster without much difficulty with his mighty dagger…
After opening the door, Durzo lets the rest of the people in, the wounded get carried to the infirmary (expertly taken care of by Cenwine) – and then the Tower gets explored quickly, whilst the girls start on making a dinner.
In the basement of the tower (?) there’s a Huge puzzle locked door, which nobody can open.

Everyone gathers for dinner, and Aedelstan asks for volunteers for a Watch. That night the watch sees a glow of light in the distance to the north, the next day they decide to go check it out, as the Goblins outside seem to be preparing for a siege.

They take a wheeled boat North, and find themselves in front of a huge Ice wall…. Durzo climbs the wall with a rope, and helps the rest up. It’s a huge duned (icy volcanic like) landscape, they sneak towards the dune to spy on what’s there.

A huge winged creature, and a lot of tents can be seen stretched towards the horizon… a scouting party of Blue Skins spots the party and assaults them, but the daggers of Durzo and Keldrin (after his Hammer breaks in the melee) and arrows of Aedelstan make quick work of them.

One threatens to break off and run away but Cenwin tackles him to the ground….and Keldrin and Durzo close in for the kill.

by Justiis

I’ll have to edit this a fair amount later (probably should have written everyone’s names down :sick:). Feel free to correct me and/or add in details I may have forgotten, and I will update it as I can. Here’s the record of our first session though:

Our adventure begins as this years group of youngsters are departing their hometown of Vestyrsjö for their year of duty at the tower. The group includes Aelfwird, Durzo, Keldrin, Cenwine, Lina, Yrsa, Wilburga, Grit and Frit, as well as two women guardians. They soon come across another group of travellers, some on horse and others walking barefoot with a sullen look about them. The youths attempt to engage them in conversation to no avail, and soon learn that not all the world is as happy a place as Vestyrsjö. The rest of the day is mostly uneventful, aside from a bit of drama between Aelfwird and Lina (apparently there was an incident involving a shift). Aelfwird eventually gets nominated as the groups leader, and they continue on their journey.

Later that day they arrive at the town of Korsvaegen, the central ‘hub’ of the Five Village Dale. They rush to the town gates, and after a short time find themselves in a field on the southwestern side of town that has been set aside for them to make camp. The boys stay to raise the tents (with the exception of Keldrin, who has family in town). A short time later the girls show up with sweets for the boys (though Durzo may have upset them a bit with his hesitance to partake in their gift). Around this time Aedelstan shows up. He has spent the past year at the tower, and when asked why he is back early he informs the group that he will be going to spend another year there. Keldrin soon returns with a bit of beer and wine and the boys enjoy a bit of drink before turning in.

The following morning the boys set off to explore the town after tending to their mornings chores. They find that it is quite different from their own village. After a bit of exploration Aedelstan talks Durzo into patching things up with the girls. He purchases a sweetcake from a local shop and delivers it to a blushing (no idea who this is for :sick:).

As they are eating lunch at their campsite they notice a commotion coming from one of the gates. The boys start to go investigate when a herd of stampeding cows comes running straight at them! They move to get out of the way, and the animals are about to run over their campsite when a young woman comes riding up to the lead bull and deftly prods it in another direction. As the animals pass, followed by more riders, another rider pulls up next to them. After a brief exchange they learn that his name is Igolf, and he is a rider of Haestgard. The young woman is Leoda, and is herself on the way to the tower. He soon returns to his group, and more people start to show up in the vicinity prepping for the nights festivities.

Among the new groups of people that show up over the course of the day, one in particular stands out. A group of larger men accompanied by a Frost Dwarf! Before they can react a speaker climbs onto a nearby platform and calls for quiet. His name is Eastmund, First Burgher, and judging by the length and wording of his speech he thinks himself quite important. Another speaker follows, and gives a mercifully short statement (which is met with a fair amount of applause) and the feast begins. Aelfwird (?) and Cenwine go to meet the dwarf while the rest of the boys follow the girls up to the platform and proceed to dance the night away. The dwarf introduces himself as Glorm from Hjalmkam, though I’m not entirely sure that Aelfwird (?) or Cenwine would remember anything of that night after spending it in the company of a dwarf and a beer tap.

The following morning the group awakes (some a bit slower than others), and after getting their gear together proceeds on with a much larger group towards the tower. It is getting colder, and as the day passes they notice that the clouds are somehow moving against the wind. They mention this to Breoulf, the Quartermaster of the Tower and the leader of the procession. He says it is nothing to concern themselves with, but his behavior throughout the day says otherwise. As they set up for camp, wagons circled, Breoulf comes up to Aedelstan (?) and tells him he is on first watch. Aedelstan (?) grabs Cenwine, and together they make preperations for the watch. Still feeling the effects of the nights festivities, as well as the days travels, Cenwine brews up a potion to perk them up a bit.

Near the end of their watch they notice a figure outside of the circle. Aedelstan (?) goes to investigate and finds out it is Leoda. They chat for a time, and Leoda tells him a bit about her town (as well as the Charge Dragons that occasionally threaten their livestock!). Aedelstan (?) and Cenwine then return to wake the second watch. They awaken xx, who heads out for the next watch after waking yy to join him. After a short time they find they cannot sleep due to the potency of the potion Cenwine had made earlier, so rather than lay around staring at the tent ceiling all night they decide to go out and accompany xx and yy on their patrol.

The following day they march into the forest they had been camped outside the night before. As they are marching along Cenwine notices movement behind the bushes on either side of the road. He points it out to his companions, but before they can discover what it is the threat makes itself known…. a group of goblins has ambushed them! Hardly armed and with little practical training in the use of weaponry they do what they can to repel their attackers. Almost immediately Yrsa and Frit go down. Frit caught a vicious kick to the head from a horse and it doesn’t look good for her. The fight seems hopeless until Lina comes up behind a goblin, and in a fit of rage snaps it neck (and I thought she was scary enough before….). Soon after Durzo rushes to the defense of Yrsa and brutally slays not one, but two goblins (each with a single blow!). Keldrin is badly wounded, as are Grit and Wilburga. The rest of the train is fighting their own battle, but as the group finally finishes off their last attacker a rider comes flying past yelling for them to ‘Get out, now!’ The load up their wounded on their carts and make a run for it as more attackers approach from the woods. On their way out they notice Glorm (wielding a battle axe) and ww (with dual blades) slaying enemy after enemy. Clearly they are no strangers to combat.

After a mad rush out of the forest they finally arrive at the tower; bloody, shaken and in dire need of shelter and medical attention they approach the gate….

In the world of Hellfrost (for ease of use) 300 years ago Humanity won a great victory against the evil from the Frozen North. But it was costly: Nearly half the (warm) continent was wiped clean of life, the destruction was of WWII proportion.

Five surviving heroes tried to find their piece in one of the few oasis in the northern part of the continent (where the ice had withdrawn), taking settlers and building a new society there, with the purpose of manning a watchtower over the Sea of Dust (after the Ice had withdrawn the water never came back).

This is ancient history. Nothing much has happened since then, but the five villages are thriving. The most important ritual is the tower service: All boys and girls coming of age (16, 18 at the latest) have to commit to one year service at the watch tower. This is an exciting time for these youngsters – there are many stories abound (revolving on boy meets girl and girl meets boy), an of course the homecoming of those who have finished their year of service is epic – the tower hosts the only brewery and destillery in the region, and while the youngsters are not allowed to partake there, the caravan home brings all the good stuff with them.

In truth the youngers face a tough year – at the tower they learn martial skills, but also many crafts skills they can use in their communities. And meeting the youngsters from the other villages builds bonds beyond their own fences.